1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns apparatus for collecting soil samples, and more particularly relates to such apparatus of a manually operable nature mountable upon a vehicle for enabling a single operator to collect samples for subsequent analysis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In agricultural operations, it is often necessary for the farmer to ascertain the precise quality of his soil with respect to the soil's need for additives such as fertilizer, lime, herbicides and insecticides. This requires extensive soil testing, involving the collection of many soil samples for separate laboratory analysis. In related operations, it may be necessary to test soils for the presence of pollutants, and thereby determine suitable remediation measures.
Various types of mechanical soil samplers have been proposed, a number of them incorporating hollow tube probes in mechanisms supplying weight and power for causing the probe to penetrate hard soils. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,464,504, 4,284,150, 4,333,541, 4,685,339, and 4,828,047. Other mechanical samplers employ a rotatably driven auger shaft which bores into the soil and withdraws a sample upwardly into a receptacle. Such devices are disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,593,809, 4,482,021, 4,534,231, 5,076,372 and 5,394,949.
The aforesaid mechanical samplers are generally associated with a vehicle suitable for use on farmland. In some instances, the vehicle is dedicated to the one particular purpose of soil sampling. In other instances, the sampling apparatus, though potentially removable from the vehicle, is removable only with considerable difficulty. When associated with a vehicle, the sampling apparatus is usually operated by the vehicle's power sources.
In the preferred, auger-based soil sampling devices, two primary repetitive motions are involved, namely a reciprocating up and down movement of the auger, and an axial rotary motion of the auger during its penetration of the soil. If the vehicle's mechanical or electrical power capabilities are employed to produce the up and down motion, coupling and control components of considerable complexity and expense are required.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a soil sampling apparatus which may be removably mounted upon a vehicle suited for farm use.
It is another object of this invention to provide a soil sampling apparatus as in the foregoing object which employs an auger for upwardly advancing a soil sample into a container.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a soil sampling apparatus of the aforesaid nature wherein up and down movement of said auger is manually affected by the vehicle operator, and axial rotary motion of the auger is produced by the vehicle's electrical system.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a soil sampling apparatus of the aforesaid nature of durable, simple construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide soil sampling apparatus of the aforesaid nature which can be marketed in kit form for easy installation by the purchaser onto an existing vehicle.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.